Freight-car door.



J. H. CHENOWETH.

FREIGHT CAR DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 22. 1913.

Patnted Sept. 26, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

i. H. CHENOWETH.

FREIGHT CAR DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 22, 1913.

1,199,049. PatentedSept. 26,1916.

JOHN H. CHENOWET H, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FREIGHT-CAR DOOR.

Specification of Letters Patent;

Patented Sept. 26, 1916.

Application filed September 22, 1913. Serial No. 790,979.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN H. CHENownTH, acitizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Freight-Car Doors, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, forminga part of this specification.

My invention relates to freight cars, and has been more especiallydesigned for usein connection with refrigerator cars which employ doorsof considerable thickness.

My present invention employs and bodies the broad structural principledisclosed in my former Letters Patent No. 801,439, granted to me October10, 1905, but presents several modifications of and improvements uponthe structure disclosed in the aforesaid Letters Patent which latteradapts the broad principle of the said structure to refrigerator orother cars having bodily movable slidingdoors of considerable thickness.

Among theleading objects attained by the invention are, first, theprovision of a novel door-actuating mechanism for shifting the door intoand out of the door opening, affording a greater extent or range ofbodily movement than has heretofore been possible; the provision of anovel and effective means for holding the door-hangers against turningmovement during the outward and inward movement of the door relativelyto the door opening; the provision of means for effecting a finalpowerful inward pressure by the door to force it into snug and sub-BID."

stantially air-tight engagement with the door j amb; and the provisionof a device in the nature of a guide for limiting and controlling theoutward swinging movement of the lower end of the door.

Other minor objects and improvements secured by the invention will beapparent from the following detail description, taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings which illustrate an improved embodiment of myinvention, and in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of theside of a car-body showing my improved door in closed position. Fig. 2is a vertical cross section on the line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is ahorizontal cross section, enlarged, on the line 33, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is anenlarged vertical section through the door opening,

[showing the door in edge elevation and in open position. Figs. 5 and 6are enlarged details, in horizontal section, illustrating,'in idle andoperative positions, respectively, a device for effecting a finalpowerful doorclosing movement to insure the snug seating of the door inthe door jamb or casing.

Referring to the drawings, 10 designates the side wall of the car, inwhich is formed a door opening 11, preferably of the stepped form shown,which is usual in refrigerator doors to secure a more perfect andairtight joint. Directly above the door opening 11 is secured a runningtrack 12.

13 designates the door which, as will be seen by reference to Fig. 4, isof considerable thickness and the edge of which is of a stepped form tocooperate with the stepped opening 11. Mounted vertically in upper andlower bearings 14 and 15 on the outer face of the door 18 are a pair ofcrank,

shafts 16. On the upper ends of the crank shafts 16 are cranks 17, thevertical stems 18 of which are journaled in a pair of door hangerbrackets 19, these latter carrying wheels 20 that engage the fixed track12;

The crank stem 18 is secured in its bearing 19 by a cotter pin 21 andwasher 22. The weight of the door 13, when in open position, issupported by the hanger brackets 19, through the crank shafts 16, bymeans of collars 23 fast on the crank shafts 16' engaged by the upperbearings 14. To prevent any turn ng or twisting tendency of the hangerbrackets 19 during the operatlon 25 in Fig. 1, while its opposite endhas a' sliding engagement in a bearing 26 on the other hanger bracket.Thls rod 24; serves 1n an obvious manner to lock the two han er bracketsagainst turning or twisting upon the track 12 in the half turningmovement given to the crank shafts 16 in opening and closing the door,as hereinafter described.

Since, in practice, it is difficult and virtually impossible to insurethe perfect parallelism shafts 16, it is highly desirable to provide thedescribed sliding fit of the distance rod or with one of the hangerbrackets to accommodate the slight to-andfro movements of said hangerbrackets relatively to each of moving the door inwardly and outwardly,

of the crank arms 17 in all positions-of the other that occur during theactuation of the door.

To the lower ends of the crank shafts 16 are keyed or otherwise securedspur pinions 27 preferably housed by downward extensions 15 of thelowerbearings 15. To save space,the outer face of the door 13 isprovided with shallow mortises 28 (Fig.-%) to accommodate the pinions27, and permit the shafts 16 to lie close to the outer face of the door.Slidably mounted in and between the extensions 15 is a bar 29, bestshown in Fig. 3, the outer end portions of which are outwardly offset,as shown, and carry racks 3O engaging. the pinions 27. To the rack bar29 is pivoted a link 31, forming a connection between said rack bar andone end of an operating lever 32, which latter is fast upon a stud 33(Fig, 2) journaled in a. bushing 33 in-the door. The lever 32 terminatesin a handle 34 and, in the closed position of the door, is locked by aguide 35 secured to the face of the door cooperating with a loop 36 onthe lever 82 and a keeper 37.

The door is locked in closed position and simultaneously at its lowerend is drawn tightly into engagement with the edge of the door openingby means of a pair of locking bars 38. slidably mounted in lZQQP'. ers39 on the inner face of the door, said locking bars being pivotallyconnected at their inner ends to and at diametrically opposite points ona crank disk 40 integral with or fast on the inner end of the stud shaftThe outer ends of the locking bars 38 are bent outwardly slightlyrelatively to the door, as shown at 38 in Fig. 3; and, when in lockingposition, slidingly engage wedge-shape cam blocks 41 secured to theinner side of the wall 10 of the car adjacent to the opposite verticaledges of the door opening. The operative relation of the crank disk 4-0and locking bars 88 to the actuating mechanism of the crank shafts 16 issuch that when the latter are actuated to move the door outwardly of theopening the loclnng bars 38 are retracted, and, when the crank shafts 16are actuated to move the door into closed position, the locking bars 38are forced outwardly into the looking position shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

To steady the lower end of the door and prevent undue widthwise oredgewise oscill6 and d7 designate a pair of stops secured to the side 10of the car at proper positions to engage the ends of the distance rod 2%when the doorcis at the precise extremes of its travel.

48 designates a wear-strip secured to the side wall of the car on thatside of the dooropening over which the door operates to prevent injuryto the side wall of the car by reason of chafing or abrasion of the dooragainst the latter.

d9 designates a handle secured to the face of the door near its lowerend, by means of Whiclithe operator, when actuating the lever 3a. tounlock the door and force outwardly its upper end, may, simultaneously,assist the action of gravity by pulling outwardly upon the lower end ofthe door in case the latter tends to stick in the opening.

50 designates a fixed stop on the door designed. to limit the swing ofthe lever The final inward movement of the door and the initial outwardmovement thereof are facilitated and a tight joint obtained by s anauxiliary closing and. opening device best shown in detail views Figs. 5and 6, and i comprising a lug or spur 51 on the upper the power leverageof the operating lever 32. I

Tn the initial opening movement, the outer edge of the lug or spur 51strikes and wipes over the plate 52", thus creating an initial outwardthrust and affording an increased leverage (as compared with that of thecrank-arm 17) to overcome any tendencyof the door to stick in theopening. It is under stood that there is suflicient lateral play of thehanger brackets 19 relatively to the track 12 to permit the abovedescribed action. V

The door is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 in its closed and locked position. Toopen the door, the keeper 87 is withdrawn, and the lever 32 swung to theleft until it engages the stop 50. This retracts the locking bars 38;and, simultaneously, through the bar 29, rack bars 30 and pinions 27,imparts a 7 full half revolution to the crank shafts 16. As the latterare journaled eccentric'ally at their upper ends in the hanger brackets19, this results in an outward movement of the upper end of the door toan extent equal to twice the length of the cranks 17, which is ample tocompletely offset the doorrelatively to the outer plane of its opening,as

shown in Fig. 4. During the initial part of this opening movement thelugs 51 strike and wipe over the plates 52' and impart an initialoutward thrust on the upper end of the door independently of the cranks17 in the manner described. The lower portion of the door at the sametime swings outwardly under the force of gravity, assisted by a pull onthe handle a9, if necessary. During this operation the distance rod 24prevents turning of the hanger brackets 19 and insures the correctalinement of the trolley wheels 20 upon the trolley track 12. The dooris then pushed edgewise to the right until the end of the distance rod24: engages the stop 47, when the opening 11 is fully exposed. Duringthis edgewise move ment of the door the headed keeper-rod 42 effectivelyprevents any edgewise oscillation of the door and limits the sidewiseoscillation of the lower end of the door to substantially the verticalposition. The car having been loaded, the door is pushed edgewise backto a position directly in front of the opening, which is determined bythe engagement of the other end of the distance-rod 21 with the stop4:6. The lower end of the door is then pushed inwardly, andsimultaneously the lever 32 is swung to the position shown in Fig. 1,which reverses the direction of rotation of the crank shafts 16, andforces the upper end of the door into closed position. During the finalpart of this turning movement of the crank shafts 16, the spurs 51 comeinto engagement with the cam lugs or keepers 52 and increase theeffectiveness of the final part of the closing movement of the operatinglever 32 in'the manner already described. The lock or keeper 37 may thenbe reengaged with the end of the guide 35 to secure the lever 32 innormal position, whereupon the door is fully closed and locked.

In the door-operating mechanism disclosed in my former Patent No.801,439, above referred to, it was possible to give to the crank shaftsonly a quarter turn, which considerably limited the extent of outwardbodily movement of the door relatively to its opening, and hencerendered the operating mechanism of that patent impractical for thickdoors such as those of refrigerator cars. By my present operatingmechanism, it is possible to give to the crank shafts a full half turn,which doubles the extent of bodily outward movement of the door, ascompared with my former patent, and hence, in effect, doubles thethickness of door which may be employed.

I claim v 1. In a freight car construction, the combination with thecar-side having an opening, of a door, vertical crank shafts journaledupon'the door, cranks on the upper ends of said crank shafts havingvertical stems, a track mounted on the car-side above the door opening,hanger brackets having wheels engaging said track and further providedwith bearings for said crank stems, a rod secured to one of saidbrackets and having a sliding engagement with the other, and means foreffecting a turning movement of said crank shafts.

2. In a freight car construction, the combination with the car-sidehaving an opening, of a door, vertical crank shafts journaled upon thedoor, cranks on the upper ends of said crank shafts having verticalstems, a track mounted on the car-side above the door opening, hangerbrackets having wheels engaging said track and further pro vided withbearings for said crank stems, pinions on said crank shafts, a rack barslidably mounted on said doorand engaging said pinions, and means forimparting endwise movement in either direction to said rack bar.

3. In a freight car construction, the combination with the car-sidehaving an opening, of a door, vertical crank shafts journaled upon thedoor, cranks on the upper ends of said crank shafts having verticalstems, a track mounted on the car-side above the door opening, hangerbrackets having wheels engaging said track and further provided withbearings for said crank stems, cooperating lugs on said crank shafts andthe car-side, respectively, adapted to come into cam engagement witheach other when the door is in nearly closed position, and means forimparting a turning movement to said crank shafts.

4L. In a freight car construction, the combination with the car-sidehaving an opening, of a door, vertical crank shafts journaled uponthedoor, cranks on the upper ends of said crank shafts having verticalstems, a track mounted on the car-side above the door opening, hangerbrackets having wheels engaging said track and further provided withbearings for said crank stems, wear-plates carrying cam-lugs secured tothe car-side above said opening, laterally projecting lugs on said crankshafts, respectively, adapted to engage said cam-lugs during the finalpart of the closing movement of the door and to engage said wear-platesduring the initial part of the opening movement of the door, and meansfor imparting a turning movement to said crank shafts.

JOHN H. GHENOWETH. Witnesses:

SAMUEL N. POND, EMILIE Ross.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G.

